Expats in Valencia restore historic British cemetery

British expats in Valencia are hoping to restore the Spanish city's British
cemetery to its former glory.

Historic: the British Protestant Cemetery in Valencia was founded in the 1800s

By Leah Hyslop

9:06AM GMT 13 Nov 2012

British expats in Valencia have set up an action group to try and restore the city’s decaying British Cemetery.

The campaign, which is called the Bonnie Project, was set up by a local expatriate women’s club in honour of a member who died earlier this year.

Bonnie Hinzpeter, a British expat, had been keen to help restore the 19th century Protestant burial place to its former glory, but died of pancreatic cancer in the spring.

The land is owned by the British embassy in Spain but locals say it has fallen into some disrepair in recent years. It has also suffered from theft and vandalism.

Expat Diana Clifton-Sewell, a British member of the International Women’s Club of Valencia who came up with the idea for the project, said the club hoped to make the cemetery a more dignified final resting place.

“Bonnie was a lovely person, who was very popular and very involved in community conservation work,” said Ms Clifton-Sewell. “Regrettably, she died of cancer before she could work on the cemetery, so we decided doing it ourselves would be a fitting memorial.”

Members of the IWC are already gardening and cleaning graves, and there are hopes that the derelict chapel, which has broken windows and a caved-in ceiling, will be sufficiently restored for services to be held in it.

“We’re also looking at creating a Garden of Remembrance in what is currently an ugly abandoned spot, because the scattering of ashes there could follow a cremation held anywhere," said Ms Clifton-Sewell.

"Cremation’s rather new in Spain, and we want to provide a quiet, beautifully cared for garden, where people could come to sit and remember their loved ones."

The cemetery was established over 150 years ago as a final resting place for expats and travellers who, because they were not Catholic, were not permitted to be buried in the consecrated burial grounds of Valencia’s churches.

Many of those buried there were sailors or traders drawn to the city’s bustling port, while others were engineers who helped to develop the local railway lines.

As the cemetery’s name suggests, the majority of individuals interred there are British, but around half of the 350 burial plots are home to the remains of non-Catholics from other countries, such as Germany and Norway.

British expat Trevor Nicholas, who administers the cemetery on a voluntary basis, said that the number of people buried there had fallen as more and more Spanish cemeteries became non-denominational.

“The existence of the cemetery is in general not very well-known, though it is still open for burials,” he said. “I hope the project raises people’s awareness of it as a historic site.”

A spokesman for the British embassy said that it had been in liasion with locals, and had so far approved repairs on the cemetery's fence and gate.